About built-in Wowza ClearCaster destination and encoding options

Updated on 04/19/2022 12:37 pm PDT

With Wowza ClearCaster™ appliances, you can broadcast to a wide variety of destinations including the Wowza Video™ service; a Wowza Streaming Engine™ instance; video-sharing websites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter; and other destinations. You can select from pre-tuned encoding templates for each destination to provide the best experience possible.

This article provides information about destinations, pre-tuned encoding templates, and frame rate considerations to help you decide which destination and template meet your needs. 

About destinations and encoding templates

Pre-tuned encoding templates are designed so that you can quickly start broadcasting with your Wowza ClearCaster appliances. Equivalent templates and destinations are available for different models of ClearCasters, but are tuned differently to ensure high-quality broadcast performance. They're also tuned to make best use of the respective hardware. For example, the templates for the ClearCaster Micro appliances use QuickSync encoding, while the ClearCaster Pro and ClearCaster Enterprise appliances use the x264 encoding implementation.

Note: All custom templates you create are available to all broadcasts, regardless of the model of the associated ClearCaster appliance. We recommend naming your custom templates carefully and testing them thoroughly with your appliance prior to use in production.

Compare destinations and pre-tuned encoding templates

Use the tables in each section to compare encoding preset options between destinations and encoding templates. For additional information about frame rate settings, see Frame rate considerations.

Built-in Wowza templates

The following pre-tuned encoding templates are available for streaming to Wowza Video (default) and Wowza Streaming Engine.

Wowza Video

Use the Wowza Video destination to stream to the Wowza Video service using a tight integration with your ClearCaster appliance. See Broadcast to Wowza Video using Wowza ClearCaster for more information.

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateMinimum video bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
Wowza  Video 4k303840 x 216025600 Kbps128 Kbps4096 Kbpsmain30 fps
Wowza Video 1080p301920 x 10805120 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpsmain30 fps
Wowza Video 1080p601920 x 10808192 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpsmain60 fps
Wowza Video 720p301280 x 7203584 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpsmain30 fps
Wowza Video 720p601280 x 7205120 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpsmain60 fps
Wowza Video ULL 1080p301920 x 10803072 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpsmain30 fps
Wowza Video ULL 720p301280 x 7201024 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpsmain30 fps

Wowza Streaming Engine

Use the Wowza Streaming Engine destination to stream to a Wowza Streaming Engine instance or the Wowza Video service using H.264 or HEVC/H.265. 

Note: When using the Wowza HEVC encoding presets to stream to Wowza Video, you can't use the default option of passthrough. Instead, you must transcode the video to H.264.

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateMinimum video bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
Wowza 4k303840 x 216025600 Kbps128 Kbps4096 Kbpsmain30 fps
Wowza 1080p301920 x 10805120 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpsmain30 fps
Wowza 1080p601920 x 10808192 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpsmain60 fps
Wowza 720p301280 x 7203584 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpsmain30 fps
Wowza 720p601280 x 7205120 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpsmain60 fps
Wowza 360p30640 x 360500 Kbps128 Kbps250 Kbpsmain30 fps
Wowza 360p60640 x 360800 Kbps128 Kbps250 Kbpsmain60 fps
Wowza 4k30 HEVC3840 x 216017920 Kbps128 Kbps4096 Kbpsmain30 fps
Wowza 1080p30 HEVC1920 x 10803584 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpsmain30 fps
Wowza 1080p60 HEVC1920 x 10805734 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpsmain60 fps

Built-in social media templates

The following pre-tuned encoding templates are available for streaming to Facebook, LinkedIn Live, Twitch, Twitter, Vimeo, and YouTube.

Facebook

Use the Facebook destination to broadcast directly to Facebook Live. 

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateMinimum video bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
Facebook 1080p301920 x 10808192 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpshigh30 fps
Facebook 1080p601920 x 108014336 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpshigh60 fps
Facebook 720p301280 x 7204096 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpshigh30 fps
Facebook 720p601280 x 72014336 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpshigh60 fps

Facebook Paired

Use the Facebook Paired destination to enable broadcasters to pair their Facebook account to the Wowza ClearCaster broadcast. For more information, see Create a shared Facebook Live broadcast using Wowza ClearCaster.

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateMinimum video bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
Facebook Paired 1080p301920 x 10808192 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpshigh30 fps
Facebook Paired 1080p601920 x 108014336 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpshigh60 fps
Facebook Paired 720p301280 x 7204096 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpshigh30 fps
Facebook Paired 720p601280 x 72014336 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpshigh60 fps
Facebook Paired 1080p60 VR1920 x 108014336 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpshigh60 fps

LinkedIn Live

Use the LinkedIn Live destination to broadcast directly to LinkedIn Live.

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateMinimum video bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
LinkedIn 1080p301920 x 10805120 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpsmain30 fps
LinkedIn 720p301280 x 7203584 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpsmain30 fps

Twitch

Use the Twitch destination to broadcast directly to Twitch.

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateMinimum video bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
Twitch 1080p301920 x 10804608 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpshigh30 fps
Twitch 1080p601920 x 10805632 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpshigh60 fps
Twitch 720p301280 x 7203584 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpshigh30 fps
Twitch 720p601280 x 7204608 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpshigh60 fps

Twitter

Use the Twitter destination to broadcast directly to Twitter.

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateMinimum video bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
Twitter 720p301280 x 7204096 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpshigh30 fps
Twitter 1080p301920 x 10809000 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpshigh30 fps

Vimeo

Use the Vimeo destination to broadcast directly to Vimeo.

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateMinimum video bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
Vimeo 1080p301920 x 10804096 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpsmain30 fps
Vimeo 720p301280 x 7203584 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpsmain30 fps

YouTube

Use the YouTube destination to broadcast directly to YouTube Live.

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateMinimum video bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
YouTube 4k303840 x 216028672 Kbps128 Kbps4096 Kbpshigh30 fps
YouTube 1440p302560 x 144010240 Kbps128 Kbps1536 Kbpshigh30 fps
YouTube 1440p602560 x 144014336 Kbps128 Kbps2560 Kbpshigh60 fps
YouTube 1080p301920 x 10805632 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpshigh30 fps
YouTube 1080p601920 x 10808192 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpshigh60 fps
YouTube 720p301280 x 7203584 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpshigh30 fps
YouTube 720p601280 x 7205632 Kbps128 Kbps750 Kbpshigh60 fps

Built-in general templates

The following pre-tuned encoding templates are available for streaming to one or more destination using user-defined preset options.

General Single Target

Use the General Single Target destination to stream to any RTMP destination using user-defined preset options.

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateMinimum video bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
General 4k303840 x 2160user-defineduser-defineduser-defineduser-defined30 fps
General 1080p301920 x 1080user-defineduser-defineduser-defineduser-defined30 fps
General 1080p601920 x 1080user-defineduser-defineduser-defineduser-defined60 fps
General 720p301280 x 720user-defineduser-defineduser-defineduser-defined30 fps
General 720p601280 x 720user-defineduser-defineduser-defineduser-defined60 fps
General HEVCuser-defineduser-defined128 Kbpsuser-definedmainuser-defined

General Multiple Targets

Use the General Multiple Targets destinations to stream to multiple destinations at the same time.

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
Social: Facebook and YouTube1920 x 10805632 Kbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps
Social: Facebook, YouTube, TwitterFacebook, Youtube1920 x 10805632 Kbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps
Twitter1280 x 7203584 Kbps96 Kbpshigh30 fps
Multi-target: Two at 1080p301920 x 10805632 Kbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps
Multi-target: Three at 1080p301920 x 10805632 Kbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps
ABR Ladder: 1080p301080p Output1920 x 10805.25 Mbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps
720p Output1280 x 7203.43 Mbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps
540p Output960 x 5401.91 Mbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps
360p Output640 x 360938 Kbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps
270p Output480 x 220488 Kbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps
ABR Ladder: 720p30720p Output1280 x 7203.45 Mbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps
540p Output960 x 5401.91 Mbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps
360p Output640 x 360938 Kbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps
270p Output480 x 270488 Kbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps
180p Output320 x 180234 Kbps128 Kbpsmain30 fps

IP inputs templates

Use the IP Inputs destination to ingest and broadcast IP video sources (RTSP), HLS source streams, or SRT source streams.

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateMinimum video bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
IP Input HLS1920 x 1080user-defineduser-defineduser-defineduser-defined30 fps
IP Input RTSP1920 x 1080user-defineduser-defineduser-defineduser-defined30 fps
IP Input SRT1920 x 1080user-defineduser-defineduser-defineduser-defined30 fps
IP Input UDP1920 x 1080user-defineduser-defineduser-defineduser-defined30 fps

Other general templates

Use the Other destination to deliver MPEG-TS over UDP or SRT streams.

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateMinimum video bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
Output MPEGTS UDP1920 x 10805120 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpsmain30 fps
Output SRT1920 x 10805120 Kbps128 Kbps1024 Kbpsmain30 fps

Subscription Expired Limited Profile

The Subscription Expired Limited Profile destination is available for legacy ClearCaster Pro appliances only. The destination allows accounts with expired subscriptions to stream to any RTMP destination using user-defined preset options.

Encoding templateFrame sizeTarget video bitrateTarget audio bitrateMinimum video bitrateProfileMaximum frame rate
General 1080p601920 x 1080user-defineduser-defineduser-defineduser-defined60 fps

Bitrate considerations

All of the encoding templates are designed to automatically adjust the bitrate for a more positive playback experience. Each template has a target bitrate, which functions as a maximum, and a minimum bitrate. Together, the target bitrate and minimum bitrate define the acceptable range in bitrates for the stream.

When monitoring a stream in the Wowza ClearCaster Manager, you'll also see the available bitrate and actual bitrate when a stream is live. To determine the available bitrate, the target bitrate is adjusted based on network conditions. The actual bitrate also depends on network conditions as well as the amount of motion within the video. Don't expect the actual bitrate to match the target bitrate.

Frame rate considerations

When comparing encoding templates, note that the frame rate listed is the maximum video capture frame rate. This is the maxium frames per second that ClearCaster can process using an encoding configuration.

If your video source sends a stream with a frame rate less than the maximum frame rate listed, ClearCaster processes it as is without adding any additional frames. If your video source sends a stream with a frame rate higher than the maximum frame rate listed, ClearCaster halves the frame rate of your video source.

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